Monday, June 1, 2009

Thing #23 - Summary

Yippee! I finally completed this segment. I'm excited about 11.5 Things to come!

1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
I have used Animoto more than any other application. Second to that would be Zamzar. These two tools are simple to use and have positively impacted my professional and personal work. I also really like Wordle. I'm thinking about how to use it in the professional development that's coming up next week and in August.

2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
I grew up as computers grew up. My dad was big into computers so I had access that a lot of folks didn't. I was a big word processor and played games on the computer. The Apple IIe was the standard in my school experience. I took a computer to college with me with a dot matrix printer. I'm not a digital native, though.

L2P has prodded me to get more current with technology. In the work I do with teachers, I know I need to model good teaching. That means integrating technology at a significant, application level. I'm not there yet, but this has given me the tools to make progress.

3. Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
Podcasting/vidcasting was surprisingly easy. I feel more confident about doing it. I was surprised to have progressed on my 23Things journey even when I wasn't working it. I stalled at Thing #15 and didn't work on them for months. But when I came back to it, I had already discovered several of the later "Things". So L2P started me on the journey, but I didn't have to be working the "Things" to continue benefitting - to stay on the journey.

4. What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
This was a wonderful introduction to online learning and Web2.0. Some of the "Things" took much longer than others. Part of it is how long you play and your level of comfort. It might be helpful to have a range of time that one could expect to spend on each "Thing". It would just help with time management.

5. If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate?
YES

6. How would you describe your learning experience in ONE WORD or in ONE SENTENCE, so we could use your words to promote 23 Things learning activities?
23 Things was a professionally life-altering experience that gave me the tools I need to make learning and instruction meaningful to today's audience.

1 comment:

VWB said...

Congratualtions on completing the journey...no one said it needed to be on the striaght and narrow...and how much more fun to find out you had already "gone there" before getting there!!

I want to share some of your discoveries and resources with my own personal Spiral graduate-turned-teacher...she is always on the prowl for new stuff!

Glad you are making plans to join the 11.5 More Things adventure.